Chapter 1:
She awoke with a start but kept her eyes closed, afraid everything would be the same before her dream. Her dream. He had been in it again. Haunting her when she was asleep, and occasionally in the daytime. He had the brightest red hair and freckles everywhere. She remembered when she would play connect-the-dots with his freckles. She wished and prayed to God, that she could have him again, after what had happened. But instead of thinking about the bad, she thought about the good times they had shared, before their lives came crashing down.
Flashback--
Hermione, on the Hogwarts Express taking her to her first year at Hogwarts, walked to the end of the train looking for the bathroom when she bumped into a pair of red headed twins. They had made her impatient, laughing and shouting insults at each other. She had thought she was going to pee right there but from inside the compartment next to her she heard someone yelling at them. She looked around and saw a lanky boy with red hair, obviously related to the troublesome twins. Their eyes met and she thought her stomach had dropped through, which would have been bad because of her full bladder. He weakly smiled and continued on wailing to his brothers, sitting next to a dark haired boy with glasses. On her way back from the toilets, she stopped in front of the compartment, watching the two boys talk and laugh. She wished she could just go in there and introduce herself.
Then her miracle came. A boy named Neville, had lost his frog. She thought this would be her perfect opportunity. While Neville staggered down the corridor, sobbing, she opened the door and strode in the room as if she owned.
"Remember what Mom always said," she thought to herself. "Be confident, boys like confident women." But on her first step in, she stepped on something, which squeaked, causing her to shriek and lose all of her composure. The two boys laughed, but didn't mean any harm to it. Hermione, thinking she was being made fun of, ran out of the room, tears streaming down her face.
As she sat in her compartment, she thought to herself, that even though he had laughed at her, she still felt she could be falling in love.
End--
Hermione got up and left the room. As she entered the living room of the studio apartment she shared, she smelt the delicious aroma of bacon and buttery biscuits. She looked around the corner to see who was cooking and was relieved to see Harry. She also lived with three other boys. Ron had obviously moved in with them and Ron's twin brothers, Fred and George, also lived with them. Actually, Harry, Ron and Hermione lived with the twins because it was their apartment.
Hermione had been trying to avoid George and Fred because of the similarities between them and Ron. But the fact that they lived and worked together had made it difficult. They all worked for the Ministry of Magic. Fred and George still worked at their joke shop but they figured being Aurors, along with Ron and Harry, at the current time was more helpful. Hermione, however, was not an Auror, but the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. She had grown very powerful at her last years at Hogwarts and even more afterwards, even though it was only three years after their departure of their school. They had become more involved with the Order and were helping any way possible. It was only until seven weeks ago that the Dark War broke out. It lasted a week, but it wasn't over. Voldemort had retreated back into his territories around the Swiss Alps. That was when Ron went missing.
Hermione slowly walked into the kitchen, trying to not disturb Harry. Whenever he cooked, he liked to sing those songs from that muggle band, Green Day. She had heard them once or twice, but was never allowed to get their CD's on account of their constant swearing. As Harry sang the infamous song "Longview", he threw down his toast and started to butter it. When he got to the part about, "smoking his inspiration", Hermione's stomach growled, causing him to jump.
"How long have you been there?" asked Harry, embarrassed by his singing. Hermione knew he didn't like people hearing him sing, probably because he was so good at it.
"I was just waiting for breakfast. I didn't know I had to announce myself to the room. Hey, that looks good. Can I have some?" said Hermione as her stomach gurgled.
The two friends ate together in silence, the same thoughts going through their heads. They missed Ron. They wanted him back but didn't know where he was. It felt wrong sitting here eating breakfast while, he was out there all alone or in danger. Hermione, feeling the tension rising, decided to break it.
"Harry?" Hermione asked, barely over a whisper.
"What?" He questioned, startled.
"I miss him so much. Do you think we'll ever find him?" As she said this, a tear silently slid down her face. Harry couldn't believe what she had just asked. "Of course we'll find him. Speaking of that, we should get ready for work. Fred and George have already left." He got up and left her there, not knowing how to help her, except to find Ron. He knew they were in a relationship. How deep, though, he didn't know. He got dressed and went out to find Hermione still sitting at the table.
"Hermione, I know you and Ron are close, but the only thing we can do right now to help him is to go to work and try to find him. We are working on finding his locator that was placed on his jacket. They think it is broken and that's why we couldn't find him. I am expecting the news today."
Hermione, getting up said, "I know. I'm just being silly. I'll be out in ten minutes." When she came out of her room, dressed in her usual black suit with a skirt, she looked professional. She was very important and knew she had to pull herself together, especially if she had to find her missing love.
Hermione and Harry apparated into the golden lobby of the Ministry of Magic. It was full of witches and wizards running around. The Ministry has been in chaos since the beginning of the war. Trying to figure out what Voldemort is doing, who were Death Eaters and trying to keep everyone calm but informed.
As they started to walk towards the elevator, Harry was called away by another wizard, hoping to get the information he wanted. Hermione walked in the empty elevator. As she started to go down, it stopped on the next floor. As two men walked in, Hermione froze.
"Um, hey Hermione. We didn't see you this morning. You're usually up before us. Are you alright?" asked George. He knew that she was avoiding him and his twin, and he understood. They tried to make it easier for her by not being around much.
"I'm fine." She whispered.
"Hey, look at it this way; at least it's almost over." Said Fred. Hermione knew if she didn't get out of here soon, she would burst into tears and the twins didn't do very well around crying women. As they reached the second floor, the doors opened and she ran out, heading straight for her office, looking at her feet. She quickly opened and shut her door and flopped down in her chair. She sat for a moment in thoughtful silence, until her emotions took over and her tears consumed her.